Health ministers and senior representatives from seven Bay of Bengal countries have adopted a revised public health action plan for 2026 to 2030 at their first ministerial meeting on health in Colombo.
The meeting on 11 November also unanimously adopted a joint statement setting out shared priorities for access to healthcare and regional health security. The plan covers cooperation on disease surveillance, pandemic preparedness, digital health, traditional medicine and the development of the health workforce.
The gathering brought together representatives from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand. Sri Lanka’s health minister, Nalinda Jayatissa, chaired the meeting, while India was represented by its health minister, Jagat Prakash Nadda.
The seven countries belong to BIMSTEC, the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation. Their health officials met in Colombo on 10 November to review cooperation and consider initiatives ahead of the ministers’ meeting.
Preparing for shared health challenges
The joint statement identifies disease surveillance and early warning as priorities alongside emergency preparedness. Surveillance involves gathering and analysing information about health threats; an early warning system is intended to help authorities identify a potential problem in time to respond.
Other areas in the statement include antimicrobial resistance, climate-related health responses, digital healthcare and capacity building. The revised action plan also includes the One Health approach, which recognises the connections between the health of people, animals and the environment.
The ministers welcomed Bangladesh’s proposal for a regional observatory and early warning system for zoonotic diseases, which can pass between animals and people. It is a proposal welcomed at the meeting, not an announcement that an observatory is already operating.
The regional plan offers a framework for cooperation over the next five years. Detailed timetables and financing arrangements for each individual priority remain unclear at this stage. Adoption of a plan does not by itself establish that particular projects have been implemented.
Digital health and regional centres
The statement envisages exploring a BIMSTEC digital health framework. Possible areas include telemedicine, electronic health records that can work across compatible systems, and the use of artificial intelligence in diagnosis and disease modelling. The framework remains something to be explored, rather than a completed system adopted at the meeting.
The ministers also welcomed regional initiatives involving centres for public health, tropical medicine and traditional medicine. A regional public health centre in Sri Lanka was described as a proposal. India committed to host a centre of excellence in traditional medicine at the Institute of Teaching and Research in Ayurveda in Jamnagar, Gujarat.
The envisaged Indian centre would provide a platform for research, academic exchange, institutional partnerships and training. It is also intended to promote attention to evidence, quality and safety in traditional medicine. A commitment to host the centre is not the same as an announcement that it is already open.
The joint statement reaffirmed a decision to hold health ministers’ and senior officials’ meetings every two years. Thailand’s offer to host the second ministers’ meeting in 2028 was welcomed. Those future meetings provide a proposed route for continuing discussions on the priorities set out in Colombo.
